The Seventh Star
by Katana-Geldar
Summary: Just out of prison for crimes he did not commit, Jali Dawler, exCoruscant Security Officer, follows a series of events to uncover those who framed him.A hardboiled detective story with a completely orginal cast of characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Seventh Star  
**Author: **KatanaGeldar   
**Genre:** Hard-boiled detective fiction  
**Characters:** OCs  
**Timeframe:** c. 45 BBY  
**Summary:** Just out of prison for crimes he did not commit, Jali Dawler, ex-Coruscant Security Officer, follows a series of events to uncover those who framed him.  
**Disclaimer:** Star Wars is not mine; I just like to write with it. The original characters are my own creations.  
**Note:** This fic is very different from anything else that I have attempted before, more of a genre experiment than anything else. If it goes well I'll continue it with another two fics with the same set of characters.  
I owe a lot to the 'experts' of this genre, as well as my various EU sources to give me the gritty realism that this fic needs. And even though Jali smokes, I don't and am opposed to smoking except for dramatic purposes.  
This fic is recommended to be read by mature audiences. It contains coarse language, sexual references and drug use. 

**The Seventh Star**

_Dedicated to Phillip Marlowe, Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes and Rick Deckard._

A guard walked through a door carrying a locked metal box, placing it on the counter in front of Jali. The guard pressed his thumb against the plate on the front of the box and the lid sprung open. He started to take the items out one by one, checking them against a datascreen as he did so.

"A wallet, synthetic leather," the guard said. "Four currency chips, two holographs and a key-access card for 17329 Permel Apartments." Jali grabbed the objects as the guard took them from the box. "One Coruscanti identification in the name of Jali Dawler, planet of origin Coruscant, born thirty-five standard years ago, occupation Coruscant Security Officer, rank Sergeant." The guard looked up. "You'll have to get a new one, soon."

Jali didn't smile as he tucked the ID into his wallet. What description did they give to those in his position? "Unemployed"? "Ex-criminal"? "Just got out of jail for something I didn't do"? It was something he had considered in his time inside, just one of the many things waiting him on the way out.

The guard removed his clothes and shoes from the box, the same ones he had worn to his trial seven years ago, a few more personal items and finally his blaster. Thankfully it was his own, they hadn't taken it from him when he had been dismissed from the Security Force. Jali still didn't like the idea of going outside without a weapon.

"That's everything," finished the guard. He gestured to the cubicle on the far side of the room. "There's a refresher in there where you can get changed and I'll sign you out." 

---------------------------------

The final slamming of the door of Coco Town Penitentiary could not have been a sweeter sound for Jali. Seven years in there, he had missed seven years of life cut down from his initial sentence of fifteen. Misuse of an official position, accepting an illegal payment and tax evasion. The last was almost laughable, borne out of the desire to make an example of him. Jali knew he had been set up from the very beginning, but with all the evidence stacked against him it was a foregone conclusion. But it was over, and he could begin again, or try to. 

For a moment he considered taking an airtaxi back to his apartment, but that could wait. Instead he went back to one of his old haunts. After all, he had to find out what he had missed. 

---------------------------------

If Jali attracted a few stares when he entered Didi's Café, he chose not to acknowledge them as he approached the counter. He had come here quite a few times and not just for the food, the diner was one of the many sources of information on Coruscant, and one of the more pleasant places that offered it.

"What can I get ya?" trilled the droid waitress.

"A slider and an ardee," Jali said, he slid onto a stood and glanced. Someone who had glanced at him when he walked in was still looking at him, the Devaronian two stools down. Was it…? No, it couldn't be… But the recognition was unmistakeable as the Devaronian sidled over, a huge grin decorating his face. It was his old contact in the lower levels, Balor Giderra. 

"Jalis, friends, Dawlers!" The Devaronian was pumping his arm in a rather embarrassing way. "Haven'ts seens yous ins ahs longs times, whys yous no tells me, yours friends, wheres yous beens?"

"I think you know where I've been for the last seven years, Balor," Jali said tightly. "For all I know, you had a hand in putting me in there."

"Oh, no, no, no!" Balor protested. "I've ah helpeds yous, haven'ts I's? Friends don'ts do thats tooes eachs others. That's ahs wass nots mes whos betrayeds yous."

Jali smiled dryly but gave no comment, Balor could have betrayed him—after all you never trusted a Devaronian—but he might not have. Still, Balor was a source of information, as long as you double-checked it.

Balor's order arrived at the same time as Jali's and for a moment the two were eating. After a moment, Jali opened a packet of Corellian cigarettes and lit one up. He took a deep inhale then asked Balor what had happened in his absence.

"Lots ofs peoples thats yous don'ts knows haves comes, news ones," said Bolar. "Nots soes bads fors mes, I's gets whats theys wants and theys pays mes." He gave Jali a surreptitious wink.

Jali chose not to respond to this. If strangers who didn't know any better chose to rely on Balor for information, that was their lookout. And it was almost a standing joke that Balor—who made his living as a paid informant—lisped badly.

"What about Meren?" Jali asked. Meren Lok, a Zabrak, had long been Balor's competitor as far as information went.

"I's nots knows wheres hes wents," Balor told him. "I's cans fainds outs ifs yous likes."

"No thanks," Jali said, that didn't interest him one bit, but Balor was always like this. "Cergan then, is he still around?" Jali had been on the point of arresting him for larceny when he had been arrested himself.

"No, no, no," Balor answered, waving his fork in the air and spraying Jali with sauce. "Hes goes a longs times agoes, Corellsia I thinks, ors Corsulags, I's nots sures." 

Jali knew it was a safe bet that Balor _was _sure where Cergan had gone, he just refused to give any particulars without payment.

"What about Vantel?" Jali asked, mentioning his old boss on the security force. If anyone knew anything it was Balor, it was part of his stock in trade to keep an eye on both sides of the law. "He always talked about moving on to bigger and better things."

"Yes, yes, he's withs betters things," Balor replied. "He's a Captain now, pleaseds abouts thats hes is."

"I bet he is," Jali said, inhaling deep. "And Tollan?" Tollan Antilles had been his best friend as well as his partner. He had wanted to visit while Jali had been inside, but since he was married and had children he could risk his job that easily.

"Stills withs thems," Balor told him. "Hes ahs happys this is confusings, hes a wasteds in that's locks box." The lock box was another name for the headquarters. "I's tolds shims he's cans comes works fors mes ands gets mores moneys, buts he's nots interesteds." He looked at Jali as it this was some kind of insult, grinning in the way that only a Devaronian could grin.

"I don't really blame him," Jali said. He drained his drink and signalled the droid waitress.

"Yous goings nows?" Balor asked.

"Yes, you know how it is," Jali said. "I don't really have any pressing business, but I'd rather not stay."

"Maybes I 's cans helps yous," Balor suggested. "I's knows a fews peoples whos coulds use yous, I's tells thems abouts yous?"

Jali shook his head as he stubbed out the cigarette. "If you told them who I was, Balor, they wouldn't trust me," he said. "If I wasn't me, I wouldn't even trust myself with my kind of background." He quickly paid for his meal and then left.

--------------------------------- 

His apartment was as he left it, barring the dust, the musty smells of stale smoke and the blackened cleaning droid lying on its side in the middle of the kitchen.

_Well, that explains the dust,_ thought Jali, leaving his carry-all in the middle of the room. For a moment he stood there, taking it all in. There were no cameras here, no sharp buzzing in the morning accompanied by the curt command to line up against the wall. The absence of it all was rather unnerving. 

He started when the doorchime sounded and for a moment he continued to stand there. The chime sounded a second time and he went to the security panel in the hall.

A few buttons showed the image of Tira, she gave him a grin with her purple-tinted lips and held up several plast-sealed packages to the camera.

"Let me in," she said with a giggle, "I've brought ya somethin' to eat".

Grinning at the hologram, he unlocked the door.

The packages dropped forgotten to the floor as Tira hurled herself into Jali's waiting embrace. No inhibitions, no hesitations whatsoever, when they parted, Tira tried to remove some of the lipstick from Jali's face with a wet finger,

"It's like no time has passed," she whispered to him, but they both knew she was lying. 

Jali smiled down at her. "No, I can't ignore seven years and neither can you," he said.

Tira agreed but chose to say nothing; the seven years had changed them both. Jali's dark features had hardened, his jaw was more defined, his eyes more suspicious, the skin on his fists had been cut and healed several times over.

As for Tira, she had long since left The Seventh Star, the seedy tapcaf on Vos Gesal Street she had worked in as a dancer. Now she worked as one of the many undersecretaries in the office of Senator Stoll of Vergoda, quite a step up. Still, she carried that wariness with her, something that couldn't be left behind.

"Do you want to eat now, or later?" Tira asked. 

Jali considered. "Later," he said finally.

The packages were left on the floor.

--------------------------------- 

Having lived all his life on the capital world, Jali of course knew that conduit worms occasionally crawled up from the lower levels to play havoc with the power supply. There were also the amphibious snakes that lurked in the water pipes. Fortunately, none had come to his place in his absence. The hot water was good and strong, even if it took its time warming up. He spent a good fifteen minutes under the spray then entered the kitchen clad only in his towel. If this was to suggest some ulterior motive for later, it was entirely lost on Tira. She was utterly absorbed in removing their meals from the re-hydrator.

Before Jali had gone in, he had been seeing Tira on and off for about five years. But somehow, they had never 'made it official'. They had talked about it, but that wasn't the same thing as seriously considering it. Somehow, whenever he brought it up, Tira merely shrugged it off, saying that it wasn't a good time, or she wasn't ready yet. But for all that, she _had _waited for him while he was in prison.

_So perhaps it's the time to bring it up again_, Jali thought as they ate together. As long as he had known Tira, the one thing she craved was stability given her experiences growing up in the underlevels. _Perhaps_, he mused, _she won't have any objections this time._

"Before you ask, it was Balor who told me," Tira said, smiling across the table at him.

"For an informant, he's sure got a big mouth," Jali observed.

Tira gave him an arch look. "Didn't you tell me once not to talk to just anyone?" 

"Balor isn't just anyone," Jali said, finishing his food and pushing the plate away. "Besides, unless the information's public property, Balor never tells you anything unless you pay." 

"Trust me," Tira assured him, "I paid." She smiled at him for a few minutes, narrowing her eyes suggestively at him. Then, suddenly, she jumped up, took the empty plates to the washer, and slipped on her shoes.

Jali stood up. "You're not staying?"

"No, I have to leave early tomorrow," she said, straightening her blonde curls in the hall mirror. She turned to look at him. "As much as I'd like to, I can't," she explained. "I'm accompanying Senator Stoll to Brentaal." She headed back into the bedroom for her coat, Jali followed.

He walked up behind her and gently touched her pale cheek with his dark hand. "Will you be gone long?"

She shook her head as she zipped up her coat. "Just a few days." She turned to grin at him. "Tollan knows you're back."

"He does?"

"I told him." Tira started to walk out.

"Why isn't he here then?" Jali asked, leaning on the open door.

She gave him a wicked smile. "I wanted you all to myself, of course." She closed the door, leaving Jali on the other side. 


	2. Chapter 2

The locker room of Coruscant Security Force headquarters was made on utilitarian lines and could cater for most humanoid species; such was the norm on Coruscant. Still, the hot water was never hot enough, at least according to Tollan Antilles. He wondered for the hundredth time if Captain Vantel has something to do with it, perhaps citing some long-forgotten regulation of the benefits of lukewarm water on personnel.

Tollan hurriedly dried himself and changed to civilian clothes. Sometimes he lingered, but not tonight. Tira Sengel, Jali's long-standing girlfriend, had told him that Jali had just got out of prison. Tollan couldn't wait to see him. He had had an idea that Jali would get out soon, but not the exact date and he had been permitted no contact while Jali was inside.

Inside. That was still something that stung, even after seven years. At the time of Jali's arrest he couldn't believe it, there was something that just was not _right_ about it. His suspicions had increased during Jali's trial yet he had nothing actual to go from. As far as he knew, Tollan was the only one who had stood by Jali during that hard time and his allegiance had not wavered in those seven years.

Yet now there was something, something that could prove his friend's innocence once he got his hands on it. It would take a few days, and a bit of hard currency, but Tollan knew it would be worth it.

"…make sure there's no trouble…he doesn't hinder us at all…" Captain Vantel's voice trickled out of his office through the partially open door. Tollan tried to ignore it, he knew from experience if people tried to overhear conversations they never got the whole story.

"I know Dawler, Sir, and he knows what's good for him," answered another voice.

This time Tollan forgot his scruples, he sauntered closer.

"Just make sure he does," said Vantel. "I know I can count on you, Kian to serve _our_ needs, just make sure my trust isn't misplaced."

"It won't be, Sir," replied Kian. There was the sound of chairs scraping on the floor and Tollan continued to walk, replaying the conversation over in his mind.

---------------------------------

Sorel's was a bar near enough to the Security Force headquarters to be attractive to personnel and far enough not to scare away potential informants. Jali knew that he would see Tollan here tonight, they both used to stop here as a matter of course every evening unless one was staying late. That way you could have a late serve of information before heading home.

Jali had ordered a Salna Spritzer, yet the bright green drink had remained untouched.

He knew Tollan had come in before he saw him, even with the Bith band blaring in the background. Tollan approached the bar, ordered a drink—a lomin ale to be precise—and gave the room a surreptitious glance. Then he saw Jali.

"Jali?" His drink forgotten for the moment, Tollan walked towards him and the two shook hands in a rather loud and rousing greeting. Talking both at once, they sat down at the table together.

"It's just like you to spring on me like that," laughed Tollan.

"I know your life, it used to be mine," shrugged Jali. It was said lightly, yet there was a definite sense of dryness in his tone. Tollan noticed this, so they talked about other things for a while.

After another drink each, and with their tongues loosened, Tollan finally mentioned the conversation he had overheard.

"Do you think there's anything in it?" Tollan asked as he finished.

Jali shook his head. "Vantel's just not that kind, and you know that too."

"Yes, but there's something else," Tollan said. "Remember when we last spoke and I said that something was wrong, that you had been set up."

"I knew I had been set up," Jali argued. "It was just a question of who. Those credits didn't appear in my account by themselves. But as to who put them there…" He ended with a shrug. "Of course I had ideas who did it, still do, but they're nothing more than that. Ideas."

"But that's just it," Tollan said in a whispered tone. "I've been doing a little sniffing around on my own."

Jali grinned. "Vantel won't like that."

Tollan shrugged. "What Vantel don't know won't hurt him." He lowered his voice. "I think I have it… what you need to get clear."

Jali stared. "You mean…you _know_?"

Tollan nodded. "I don't have the proof, but I will," he said.

"Can't you just tell me right now?" Jali asked.

Tollan looked around cautiously. "I wouldn't like to say," he murmured, "especially if it turns out that I'm wrong. There could be a good explanation."

Jali snorted in annoyance. "There usually is." He downed the rest of his drink. "When can you get it?"

"Soon," Tollan reassured. "Why don't you come up to my place for dinner in about…three days? I should have it by then."

"Fine then, Tira should be back and we can both be there," Jali said.

"That's fine," Tollan agreed, though rather reluctantly. Jali ignored this; Tollan had never particularly liked Tira.

At this moment Tollan's comlink sounded. He picked it up, it was his wife Verda. "Looks like I'm being summoned," he laughed, he polished off the rest of his drink and threw a few credit chips on the table. "So, I'll see you in three days." They shook hands

"Sure," Jali said, then sat down and watched his friend go.

---------------------------------

The trip to Brentaal had been tiring and Tira's head still ached from fatigue when she was working in Senator Stoll's office the following day. It was all to do to keep on task that afternoon, even given the rather sharp looks by those more senior to her.

"Miss Sengel?"

Her arms full of files to deliver to the senator's senior aide, Tira was stopped by one of the many guards.

"Yes?" she replied, trying to make her voice sound as impatient as possible.

"There was a man outside asking what time you finished for the day," the guard said. "I told him that it was none of his business, but he has insisted on waiting in the lobby. We are about to officially remove him from the premises, I thought you should know."

Tira shuddered. Who could it be? "Did he give a name?"

"Says his name's Dawler," replied the guard, "though he refused to give any ID."

Tira smiled. "There's nothing to worry about, I know him," she told the guard. "Tell him I'll be out shortly."

It was about forty-five minutes later that Tira emerged from Senator Stoll's office. Standing beside one of the low couches with a wide smile on his face, was Jali.

He quickly grabbed her wrist. "Let's go," he said, tugging her towards a waiting airtaxi.

"Where are we going?" Tira asked, conscious that she was still wearing the rather revealing gown that Senator Stoll insisted that all his female staff wore.

"To Tollan's, he's invited us to dinner, and we're late," he told her, closing the door behind Tira and giving the driver directions.

"Is that a good idea?" Tira asked. "I'm not changed, I can't go there looking like this!" She gestured to the slashed sections in her crimson dress. "Can't we make a stop so I can get some decent clothes?"

"You look fine," Jali asked, not really looking at her or even listening. "And we're late, he expected us a half-hour ago."

--------------------------------- end of chapter 2

Verda Menyan Antilles carefully arranged a vase of Alderaanian lilies for the middle of the table. Beside her, her husband started to open a bottle of wine. She looked at him.

"Isn't it a bit _soon_ for that?"

Tollan shrugged, pouring himself a glass. "They'll be here soon, anyway."

As if on cue, the doorchime sounded. "I'll get it!" Tollan's son Sarwan ran towards the door and opened it. "Uncle Jali!"

"Hey!" Jali tousled the boy's red hair as he and Tira came through the door. On the other side of the room was Sarwan's sister Kreia, she smiled shyly as Jali greeted her.

"They're here!" Tollan called, walking into the room with the bottle and glasses so he couldn't shake hands. He nodded to the children. "It's time you two were off to bed, say good night nicely."

When the three adults were alone Tollan started pouring out the wine. Jali was silent for a moment. While it might have been possible to deceive himself at his own place, that wasn't the case here. Tollan's kids had been five and six when he had gone inside, now they looked completely different from what he remembered. Sarwan with his father's red hair and long, thin, pale face; Kreia with the dark hair and eyes like her mother.

Verda came in at that point. "Dinner's just about ready," she said after greeting Jali and Tira. She eyed Tira's dress with interest. "Is that what the senator makes you wear?"

Tira nodded. "We all do, well all the _females_."

Jali looked at her in surprise. "What? You didn't tell me _that_!"

Verda and Tira only laughed. "You men," Verda said, looking between her husband and Jali with a smile. "You're all alike."

---------------------------------

The meal over and done with, Jali and Tollan were alone while the women were in the kitchen. Jali had a cigarette. The two shared the last bottle of wine between them, chatting of inconsequential matters until Jali broached the subject that was the point of the whole evening.

"Yes, I have it," Tollan answered when Jali asked. "I looked though it several times, it's pretty conclusive but…"

"But what?"

"I don't like to say," said Tollan. "I'll give it to you before you leave, you can then see for yourself what it's all about."

"And after this?" Jali prompted, blowing smoke.

"After this we hand it over," Tollan continued. "I wanted to do it sooner, but I knew you'd want to take a look at it first."

"To Vantel?" Jali asked.

Tollan shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure that Vantel won't like it," he said. "He may even try to stop it if he finds out too soon."

"I see," Jali nodded, drawing his own deductions. _Does this mean that Vantel was behind my arrest?_ Jali thought. It was entirely possible, yet he couldn't be sure until he saw the evidence himself. He stubbed out the cigarette.

Verda came in from the kitchen; she was holding Tollan's comlink. "It's Vantel," she said.

"Does he even _have_ a home?" murmured Tollan as he took the 'link. "Antilles here… Yes?... What… _now_? But I'm…yes…yes, sir…I'll be right there." He closed down the comlink and looked depreciatingly at Verda and Jali. "Have to go now, no arguments," he said, getting to his feet.

"What's going on?" Tira asked, coming in to the room.

"Got my marching orders," Tollan explained.

Jali drained his glass and stood. "We'd better get going too." He turned to Verda. "It was a lovely dinner, thanks." He gave Tollan a nod.

Tollan recognised the nod. "I'll just be a moment."

But for some reason, Tira was just made aware of the late hour. "Jali, I think we need to be going," she said, she sounded rather worried.

"Just one moment," Jali reassured her.

"Jali, it's getting late," she reminded him.

"Yes, it is," Verda agreed, she ushered them towards the door.

Defeated, Jali gave in to the women's demands. "I'll come around tomorrow," he told Verda. "There's something I still need to talk about with Tollan."

"That'll be fine," Verda said with a nod. "I'll see you then. Good night Jali, good night Tira."

A few minutes later Tollan ran through the door and tried to find Jali, but they had gone.

---------------------------------

He had asked Tira to stay but she had declined, explaining she had another early morning. So Jali went back to his apartment alone. It was still dark, and still dusty. He hadn't gotten around to buying a new cleaning droid yet.

Still in his clothes, Jali collapsed on his bed and was woken up hours later by the comm unit blaring in his ear.

He fumbled several times on the bedside table until he finally found the right button. "Yeah?" It wasn't the way to answer a call, but he was still half-asleep.

"Jali, it's me, Verda," answered a voice. "Have you seen Tollan?"

"No," answered Jali, his eyes still closed. "Last time I saw him was at your place. Is there something wrong?"

"He didn't come home last night," Verda answered.

Jali was wide awake; that wasn't like Tollan. He sat up and tried to reassure her. "Did he call?"

"Yes," she answered, "he said he had to go somewhere else first but he would be home."

"Did he say where?" Jali asked.

"Something about a gas processing factory," Verda said. "See-oh… something or other"

"Stars and moons, a CO2 plant," Jali murmured. He thought quickly. _Did someone else find about the information? Did Vantel? Was Tollan trapped there…or somewhere else?_

"Jali?" asked Verda's worried voice. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no," he answered quickly, pulling on his boots. "There's nothing wrong, I just think it's something that I should check out. Don't worry, and try not to let anyone into your apartment."

He ran out the door.

"But Jali, why are you telling me this?" Verda asked. "Should I be worried? Jali? JALI?"


	3. Chapter 3

It took a few goes at the motor but Jali's speeder bike finally started, he gunned the engine and took off at a breakneck pace. Given the urgency, he had decided not to trust airtaxis. Anyway, an airtaxi driver would give you a very strange look if you asked to be dropped off at a CO2 processing plant at this hour of the morning.

Due to the fact that Coruscant was almost completely devoid of large plant life, the atmosphere had to be largely artificially generated—much like the situation on Kessel. In order for the oxygen to be generated, the carbon dioxide was taken from the atmosphere—Jali wasn't sure of the exact process—then stored in tanks to be converted to oxygen and finally released at a very low orbit. Jali had been to one of the plants before, so he knew a little about them. Such as the fact that the tanks were very large and very long—they had to be in order for the crystallised gas at the bottom of the tanks to be cleaned.

He thought he would have trouble finding the right factory, yet when he approached ground level he noticed that he needn't have worried. A VAAT/e with the Security Force logo emblazoned on the side was parked outside one of the plants. Jali parked his speeder bike alongside it and went inside.

He was stopped by Officer Kian.

"Sorry, Dawler," Kian said. "This is a closed area, no non-official personnel allowed."

Jali ground his teeth, he had _never_ liked Kian. "Listen, I got a call from Sergeant Antilles's wife telling me that he was down here last night and didn't come back," he told Kian. "Antilles was my friend, is _still_ my friend. _Now_, will you let me in?"

Kian shook his head. "Sorry, orders are orders."

Jali spat on the ground and walked off. He spied another door around the corner, it was locked but Jali made short work of that. Once inside he followed the sound of the voices until he found the rest of the officers. A small group gathered around the top of the large long tanks.

He tried to blend in, but Vantel spotted him immediately.

"Dawler, what in nine Corellian hells are you doing here?" he demanded.

Jali's head whipped around at the sound. "Helping out a friend, if that's fine with you?"

"It's not," replied Vantel angrily. "Get lost!"

"Wait!" Both Jali and Vantel turned to see the Deputy Chief walking towards them. "He can stay, Captain. He has a right to know, probably more than the rest of us."

Vantel scowled but did not protest.

From a box on the floor, Jali took a white synth-rubber glove walked towards the main group. They were gathered around one of the openings of the tank. The covering was removed and the inside of the tank was dark. Several of them stopped talking when they saw Jali. Jali ignored them; he fitted the glove on his hand, squatted down and peered inside. Frowning, he lowered his head in further; he couldn't see anything in the dark.

"He's further in," said one of the officers as Jali was getting his breath back. He handed Jali a breath mask and a torch. "You'll need these."

Jali fastened the breath mask and lowered himself down inside the tank. He flicked on his torch and looked around. Squinting through the darkness he could see there was something on the floor about halfway along, several metres away, two figures were bent over it. Carefully, he walked along one side of the tank in case there were any footprints up the middle.

The two officers looked up when they saw it was Jali and moved away. It was a body, Jali bent over and examined it with his torch. It was Tollan. His lips were slightly tinged with blue, but otherwise he looked untouched. Almost as if he was sleeping. The shock still hadn't registered yet, somehow he had expected it ever since Verda's call earlier. That information Tollan had had, the information on his arrest, had that caused this? As much as Jali wanted to deny it, there had to be a connection.

But who else had known about it? Vantel? It was possible. What about Balor? Jali dismissed the thought entirely, Balor's market was information, not murder. And Jali could not see the death of his best friend in any other light other than murder.

With the torch Jali examined the body more thoroughly. He cast the beam of light down his friend's body, and to his left hand closed around something.

"He's holding something," Jali said through his breath mask to the other officers. With difficulty, the pried it loose. It was his comlink, the same multi-frequency one that all Security Officers carried.

With the torch Jali examined it closer. There was something written on the screen, " ". Seven asterisks. Was this Tollan's last message to him? Jali could only wonder what it meant.

Jali's foot touched something metal as he stepped back; there was something else on the floor. He turned the torch beam towards it. Tollan's blaster. Had he dropped it? Had he even used it? A quick examination showed that some of the charge had been used, but not a lot.

"One shot, maybe two," Jali said.

"That's what we think," said one of the officers.

"But where?" Jali stood up and moved slowly towards the end of the tank that was open, glancing along the smooth metal as he did and missing nothing. When he got to the end he could see Vantel peering down the hole at him.

"I could have told you myself, Dawler, and saved you the trouble," the captain said acidly. "You won't find anything that isn't there."

Jali ignored him, continuing his search past Tollan's body and down towards the other end of the tank. Just under the opening at the other end, he found what he was looking for: a scorch mark where some of the metal had melted away. It was rather small due to the distance, but it had to be a blast point.

---------------------------------

Once they had removed the body, another officer named Perel briefed Jali on the specifics of the case. Just before Tollan had left to return home last night, he had received a call on his 'link—they were still tracing the frequency. The exact nature of the call was unknown, yet Tollan had placed another call to his wife mentioning this place. That morning Tollan had failed to show at headquarters and his wife had been called.

"And after that she called me," Jali finished. "I bet no one actually told her anything."

Perel shrugged. "It's our policy."

"Whatever." Jali rolled his eyes. "What else can you tell me?"

"We're still waiting for the full medical examination," Perel continued. "But its being ruled an accident."

"Accident?" Jali stared at him. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Everything points that way," Perel said. "We still aren't sure of the reason he was down there, but there's no trace that there was anyone else down there but him."

"That's a load of frag and you know!" Jali bellowed. "What about his blaster? What about that shot that was fired? Is _that_ an accident too?"

"Dawler!" It was Vantel. "You may _be_ here, but you have no _right_ to be here." He looked at the officer. "We're heading back, Perel, make sure this scene still stays clean."

"Yes, sir," said Perel, saluting.

The room cleared but for Jali and Perel.

"Listen, this _can't_ be an accident," Jali argued.

"Do you have any reason to say so?" Perel asked. "Is there any information you'd like to come forward with?"

Jali considered telling him about the information Tollan had found. He decided against it, it wouldn't do to have too many knowing about it.

"No," Jali sad, walking out with a scowl.

---------------------------------

Outside, Jali leaned against the wall and lit up a cigarette. It was all too overwhelming, Tollan just _couldn't_ be dead. How was he going to break this to Verda? Did she even know? And did Tollan's death have anything to do with the information he had found out on Jali's arrest?

"They don't wanna know…they don't wanna know."

The words floated up the street and Jali turned his head. He saw a Duro in grey coveralls walking out of the doorway to the plant and away from him. Was he a witness? If so, why was he walking away and not in the back of the VAAT/e?

Jali walked towards him. "Hey!" The Duro turned around. "You work at this place?" Jali asked, tilting his head towards the processing plant.

"Who wants to know?" the Duro asked him.

"I'm asking the questions," Jali said, taking several steps towards him. "It was my friend that died in there."

"I'm sorry," the Duro said emotionlessly. "I've already given my evidence to you people, and anythin' you don't want to know is your business."

He started to walk away, Jali saw he was missing his chance. "I'm not a Security Officer," Jali told him.

The Duro looked at him sceptically. "You look like one of 'em."

Jali ignored this comment. "Listen," he lowered his voice as he approached the Duro. "I don't this was an accident."

The Duro smiled. "You're the only one to think so, then," he said. "I was here last night," he explained, "and I already told 'em I saw nobody, but that don't mean nobody was here."

"Keep talking," Jali urged.

"I left the tank open at both ends and turned the controls onto manual," the Duro continued. "I then had to leave for about an hour, and when I came back the tank was shut."

"Manually?" Jali asked.

The Duro nodded. "I thought nothin' of it until this mornin', 'til they found the body," he said. "But what I tried to explain, was that the only way that that tank could have been closed was from the outside." He shrugged. "And those tanks take a few minutes to close and pressurise," he added. "Then it's another ten before they can open again. Anyone who put 'im in there knew what they was doin'."

"And you've already explained this to Security?" Jali asked.

"I did, but they didn't wanna hear it." He looked at Jali. "Anythin' else you wanna know?"

"No, thanks for telling me," Jali said, walking to where he had parked his speeder bike.


	4. Chapter 4

Jali headed for Tollan's apartment building but as he had his finger above the security panel he knew he couldn't face her. Not just yet.

He headed to the bar opposite for a Janx Spirit, then returned to the apartment building. Judging by the sound of Verda's voice when she let him in from the street, she already knew.

Verda was in tears when she opened the door but smiled weakly at him. Apologising for not having anything ready, she showed him into the sitting room.

"No need to apologise, Verda," Jali said, sinking into a chair. Could it have been only last night he had been here talking and laughing with Tollan? "How are the kids?"

"Sarwan's coping, but Kreia refuses to leave her room," Verda said. "My mother is coming over this evening, that's a _little_ reassuring…" She was silent for a few moments. "Tell me Jali, did he suffer? Was he lying there and _choking_?" She gave a sharp little cry. "Oh, I can't bear it!" The tears started to flow again.

Jali went over and sat next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder but said nothing. He had seen enough of grief to know that this was the best thing to do.

"I only have a few particulars," he told her when she was calm again. "But as far as I know, it's like falling asleep. He just…didn't wake up." The words seemed to hand in the air for a moment.

"Captain Vantel was here earlier," Verda said. "He said they're making enquiries but the official report is it's an accident."

"I don't think so," murmured Jali. Verda looked up, he hadn't realised he had spoken.

"What?"

Jali wished he hadn't said anything, but he could back out now. And after all, she had a _right_ to know. "Listen," he said in a low voice. "I want you to promise not to repeat what I'm about to tell you."

"Oh…okay," she said uncertainly.

"It wasn't an accident," Jali whispered. "Last night Tollan was going to give me some important information, something about whoever got me arrested." He paused for a moment, then rushed on. "And there's something else." He told her what the Duro had said about the CO2 tank.

Verda considered this and shuddered. "You mean he was…_murdered_?"

Jali nodded.

Verda sat quietly for a moment, her eyes downcast. "Yes…yes…I was wondering the same thing myself when Captain Vantel came by." She looked up at him. "I asked if there was a way it could _not_ be an accident and he was very firm in his refusal."

"Sounds just like him," Jali said dryly. "Do you mind if I have a look in the backroom? I know Tollan kept a lot of equipment there." He got to his feet and walked towards the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

"But Jali," Verda pleaded, following him through the kitchen, "I was going to tell you…the Security Force…they've already been through and…"

Jali stopped dead; the room had been stripped bare. Whatever Tollan had wanted to give him was no longer there.

---------------------------------

Despite Tira's pleas, Jali didn't move from his apartment for several days. From his time in the Security Force, Jali had learned from experience to trust his hunches. From there he needed only to gather evidence and he would have proof. But he didn't have any proof, and given his current situation he didn't exactly have the means to get any.

Tira came over often, trying to tempt him to venture outside but Jali refused.

"You have to put this behind you, Jali," she pleaded. "Tollan wouldn't have wanted you to hide away like this."

"You're right," Jali answered. "He would want me to find who did it, but I haven't got anything."

"Even if there _was_ something, you would have found it," Tira reassured. "I know you, Jali, you don't miss anything. But this…it's a kind of obsession with you."

The conversation was mercifully interrupted by the comm unit sounding. Jali activated it and Verda's voice was protected into the dark kitchen.

"Jali, I just wanted to let you know that the…." Verda paused as if the very word was choking her, hard enough it was to say "…the funeral will be tomorrow."

"Thank you, Verda," Jali said in a monotone. "I'll be there, thanks."

The line disconnected.

"Very strange," Jali muttered to himself, heading off for a shower.

"What's strange?" Tira asked, following him.

Jali didn't answer her, but he knew the fact that the funeral being so soon after the death couldn't be anything but bad.

---------------------------------

At the ceremony, Commander Yur T'aug himself gave the eulogy, but the Bothans low tones were not enough to still the sobs of Verda as she sat next to Jali squeezing his hand. Sarwan comforted his sister's tears as the flag-draped coffin was taken out of the hall.

Afterwards there was food and drink outside; Verda did not seem disposed to speak to anyone, not even Jali. So Jali took this opportunity to talk to Perel. The young officer seemed reluctant at first to disclose information and kept shooting furtive glances at Vantel.

"The autopsy results came back clean," Perel told him in a low tone. "No cuts, no marks on him at all. Cause of death is asphyxiation."

"But how can you account for that blast point?" Jali insisted. "That part can't be an accident."

Perel shrugged. "There's no sign of anyone else being there," he told Jali. "No skin cells, no hair, nothing. Maybe he tried to shoot his way out and the bolt ricocheted."

"Unlikely," Jali said. "What do ballistics say about that?"

"They don't say anything," Perel replied. "Vantel said it was a waste of time looking into things like that when the case was obviously an accident."

He walked off and Jali was left there, watching Vantel out of the corner of his eye. What _did_ he have to hide?


	5. Chapter 5

Jali headed for Tollan's apartment building but as he had his finger above the security panel he knew he couldn't face her. Not just yet.

He headed to the bar opposite for a Janx Spirit, then returned to the apartment building. Judging by the sound of Verda's voice when she let him in from the street, she already knew.

Verda was in tears when she opened the door but smiled weakly at him. Apologising for not having anything ready, she showed him into the sitting room.

"No need to apologise, Verda," Jali said, sinking into a chair. Could it have been only last night he had been here talking and laughing with Tollan? "How are the kids?"

"Sarwan's coping, but Kreia refuses to leave her room," Verda said. "My mother is coming over this evening, that's a _little_ reassuring…" She was silent for a few moments. "Tell me Jali, did he suffer? Was he lying there and _choking_?" She gave a sharp little cry. "Oh, I can't bear it!" The tears started to flow again.

Jali went over and sat next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder but said nothing. He had seen enough of grief to know that this was the best thing to do.

"I only have a few particulars," he told her when she was calm again. "But as far as I know, it's like falling asleep. He just…didn't wake up." The words seemed to hand in the air for a moment.

"Captain Vantel was here earlier," Verda said. "He said they're making enquiries but the official report is it's an accident."

"I don't think so," murmured Jali. Verda looked up, he hadn't realised he had spoken.

"What?"

Jali wished he hadn't said anything, but he could back out now. And after all, she had a _right_ to know. "Listen," he said in a low voice. "I want you to promise not to repeat what I'm about to tell you."

"Oh…okay," she said uncertainly.

"It wasn't an accident," Jali whispered. "Last night Tollan was going to give me some important information, something about whoever got me arrested." He paused for a moment, then rushed on. "And there's something else." He told her what the Duro had said about the CO2 tank.

Verda considered this and shuddered. "You mean he was…_murdered_?"

Jali nodded.

Verda sat quietly for a moment, her eyes downcast. "Yes…yes…I was wondering the same thing myself when Captain Vantel came by." She looked up at him. "I asked if there was a way it could _not_ be an accident and he was very firm in his refusal."

"Sounds just like him," Jali said dryly. "Do you mind if I have a look in the backroom? I know Tollan kept a lot of equipment there." He got to his feet and walked towards the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

"But Jali," Verda pleaded, following him through the kitchen, "I was going to tell you…the Security Force…they've already been through and…"

Jali stopped dead; the room had been stripped bare. Whatever Tollan had wanted to give him was no longer there.

---------------------------------

Despite Tira's pleas, Jali didn't move from his apartment for several days. From his time in the Security Force, Jali had learned from experience to trust his hunches. From there he needed only to gather evidence and he would have proof. But he didn't have any proof, and given his current situation he didn't exactly have the means to get any.

Tira came over often, trying to tempt him to venture outside but Jali refused.

"You have to put this behind you, Jali," she pleaded. "Tollan wouldn't have wanted you to hide away like this."

"You're right," Jali answered. "He would want me to find who did it, but I haven't got anything."

"Even if there _was_ something, you would have found it," Tira reassured. "I know you, Jali, you don't miss anything. But this…it's a kind of obsession with you."

The conversation was mercifully interrupted by the comm unit sounding. Jali activated it and Verda's voice was protected into the dark kitchen.

"Jali, I just wanted to let you know that the…." Verda paused as if the very word was choking her, hard enough it was to say "…the funeral will be tomorrow."

"Thank you, Verda," Jali said in a monotone. "I'll be there, thanks."

The line disconnected.

"Very strange," Jali muttered to himself, heading off for a shower.

"What's strange?" Tira asked, following him.

Jali didn't answer her, but he knew the fact that the funeral being so soon after the death couldn't be anything but bad.

---------------------------------

At the ceremony, Commander Yur T'aug himself gave the eulogy, but the Bothans low tones were not enough to still the sobs of Verda as she sat next to Jali squeezing his hand. Sarwan comforted his sister's tears as the flag-draped coffin was taken out of the hall.

Afterwards there was food and drink outside; Verda did not seem disposed to speak to anyone, not even Jali. So Jali took this opportunity to talk to Perel. The young officer seemed reluctant at first to disclose information and kept shooting furtive glances at Vantel.

"The autopsy results came back clean," Perel told him in a low tone. "No cuts, no marks on him at all. Cause of death is asphyxiation."

"But how can you account for that blast point?" Jali insisted. "That part can't be an accident."

Perel shrugged. "There's no sign of anyone else being there," he told Jali. "No skin cells, no hair, nothing. Maybe he tried to shoot his way out and the bolt ricocheted."

"Unlikely," Jali said. "What do ballistics say about that?"

"They don't say anything," Perel replied. "Vantel said it was a waste of time looking into things like that when the case was obviously an accident."

He walked off and Jali was left there, watching Vantel out of the corner of his eye. What _did_ he have to hide?


	6. Chapter 6

Two days later, Jali was back at Didi's, smoking and looking into his plate with such a miserable expression that even the droid waitress took pity on him.

"What's wrong, honey?" she asked him in her irritatingly cheery voice. "You look like you've lost your starship and found a speeder bike instead."

Jali glowered at her and she quickly flitted away.

"Hows its goings Jalis?" asked a familiar voice.

Jali turned away, he was _not_ in the mood to talk to Balor.

But Balor wasn't aware of this. He continued to talk whether Jali liked it or no, and Jali was forced to listen. Finally, his patience at an end, Jali spoke.

"Balor, I'm not interested in anything you have," he said in a tight voice. "You can go and play in zero-gee without a vac-suit for all I care." He turned his back on Balor but the Devaronian grabbed his shoulder.

"I's knows what's wrongs," Balor said. "Antilses is deads. Yous sads, I's cans understands."

"Well, if you understand so much" retorted Jali impatiently, "you'd realise that I don't want to talk to you right now."

"I's understands," Balor said, almost amiably. "Anyways, I's was goings tooes talks tooes Narks. Hes knows somethings thats I's cans uses."

With a grin, Balor went off, but Jali was completely unaware. His mind raced frantically. Narks… Narks… Narks ran that bar on Vos Gesal Street…the Seventh Star…seven asterisks…seven _stars_. He slammed his fist on the counter. Why hadn't he seen it before?

Slapping some currency next to his plate, he walked out at a frantic pace and was off on his speeder bike for the underlevels.

---------------------------------

The Seventh Star, situated at the lower end of Vos Gesal Street in the Uscru District, an area of Coruscant that no one wanted to be in unless they had to, was a tapcaf that one approached for only two reasons: to either hire or be hired as a source of information. The Sullustan proprietor was named Narks and he had allowed this trade—some said encouraged—so his establishment was rather well patronised than otherwise. Yet it had many clones in the galaxy—small, dirty places such as this one where the main bill of fare was information. From Corellia to Tatooine, from Nar Shaddaa to Corulag, nearly every planet had its own.

The cracked, grimy tiles with large chunks missing, the beaten durasteel tables, the stools that would topple over if you so much as looked at them, the large drink synthesiser behind the bar…it was all eerily familiar to Jali.

What was most noticeable was the circle of plasteel stars over on one wall, six stars with another in the centre. They had been there when Narks had bought the place, thus the name. Jali had always thought they looked rather tacky.

Jali sat down at one of the empty tables, leaning on the tabletop on his elbows, and then removing them when he noticed the sticky substance covering the metal. He took a cautious look around, Balor was talking to Narks at the far end of the bar, but neither showed a sign of seeing him. That was fine with him. Jali ordered a drink when the waitress came around, and when she brought it to him he asked if he could see Guren Trell. The Falleen waitress looked at him in surprise, but she did as she said. She returned a few minutes later and escorted him to a small room behind a grubby curtain.

The room was small and had two stools with a table between them. Jali sat on one of them and waited, the room had one purpose only—the exchange of information.

Guren Trell entered soon enough. He was Nautolean, his headtails tied back so they were away from his face. Trell was tall, broad and had a loud raucous voice. He glared warily at Jali.

"When Miarka said it was you I didn't believe her," he said, sitting on the other stool so he was opposite Jali. "I heard about Antilles." His voice showed no sympathy as he had none.

"That's what I'm after," Jali said. "Tollan had some information, I want to know where he got it."

Unlike Bolar, Jali knew that he could trust whatever Guren said. Often in the past he had asked Guren to verify something that Bolar had told him, just to be sure. The only time he would get nothing of use out of Guren was when he refused to say anything at all. That was because Guren had contacts that were fast too dangerous to compromise, dangerous for the buyer as well as Guren, as the Nautolean was known for letting someone else take the fall for him.

Jali shuddered, had that happened with Tollan?

Guren downed his drink, a Mad Mrelf, a drink that Jali wouldn't touch in a fit, and was silent for a few moments. Jali lit a cigarette and waited. Finally Guren spoke. "Well, I can't help you very much." He put the tall glass on the table so it was between them. "I might as well tell you the whole story. Tollan came to me about a year ago and asked about Senix Breen."

"That Zabrak that I arrested," Jali confirmed, exhaling smoke. "The one that _they_ said I was paid to arrest and I got into the clink."

"Yeah, so I told him that I couldn't really help him a lot," Guren continued. "But I put him in touch with Nami Kotour."

"Nami Kotour," repeated Jali, dragging on the cigarette. "Never heard the name."

"Unlikely, she's some senator's Twi'lek love toy," Guren told him. "Don't know which one, but they're all the same to me." Guren probably knew _exactly_ which senator had the Twi'lek girl; he just chose not to say so. "So anyway, I sent him to her as I know that's the best way in to the Silver Ring."

"The Silver Ring?" Jali knew he had heard of it. "It's a criminal organisation, isn't it? What can you tell me about that?"

Guren's face became a closed mask. "Let's first see your currency." Jali started to pile credits on the table, when he got to a certain point Guren started talking again. "Yes, it's a criminal organisation. They have a large slice of whatever contraband comes in to the capital as well as a lot of other stuff."

This was news to Jali. "What about Black Sun?"

"What about 'em?" Guren shot back. "Haven't you heard? Whole organisation blown away, some crazy Zabrak with a red lightsaber. They killed Lex, all the Vigos, everyone on top. So the Silver Ring's here now."

"So, the Silver Ring," Jali repeated. "Was Senix Breen one of theirs?"

"I reckon," Guren said. "And let me tell you one thing, Dawler, they'll have found out by now that you're out. If you know what's good for you, you know that no one will trust you. That means if it comes to them or you…" He snapped his fingers and Jali tried not to stare. He had known that he had been onto something with Breen's arrest, but something like this…

"And how will this Nami get me in?" Jali asked.

"She won't," Guren told him. "She's more like the next stop, if you can get anything out of her."

Jali looked at him carefully. "What do you mean?"

Guren winked one of his large black eyes. "You'll find out," he said. "Here's the address." He scribbled something down on the back of a receipt and gave it to Jali. "That all you want to know?"

"Yeah, this should get me somewhere," Jali said, stubbing out the cigarette. He left the room, paid for his drink, and then was on his way back to his apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

When he arrived back at his apartment, Tira was waiting for him outside.

"Were you waiting long?" Jali asked as he prised his arms from around her and tried to remove her purple lipstick from his mouth.

"Long enough to wonder where you were," she replied.

Jali opened the door and held it for her. "I was out, and I just got back."

When they were inside she put her arms around him again. "I know you're still upset about Tollan, Jali, I'm sorry," she buried her face on his shoulder. "It must be awful, to lose someone like that."

Jali frowned. "From what I can recall, Tira, you lost two of your friends at your last job."

Tira looked at him. "It's not the same," she protested. "It just…_happened_ if you found out too much. Not like what happened with Tollan."

"I'm not so sure," Jali murmured.

Tira stared at him, shocked. "What are you talking about?"

Jali shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." He gave a small smile. "Well? Do you?"

Tira smiled back at him.

---------------------------------

Somehow it seemed wrong, given that Tollan had died only the previous night. So it was over sooner rather than later. Afterwards Tira was sleeping and Jali had a cigarette, the ash falling on the sheet and making tiny holes.

"Jali?" Tira's voice was very faint, as if she was still asleep and dreaming.

"Mmm?"

"What was that you meant before? About Tollan?"

Jali paused, the cigarette halfway to his mouth. Should he tell Tira what he had found so far? When he was in the Security Force he had made it a policy not to discuss his cases, except with Tollan perhaps. But now…

"I don't think that his death was accidental," Jali told her.

"What?" Tira sat up, the sheet on her chest falling down into her lap. "But that's impossible!"

"No, not at all," Jali replied calmly. "He was found in a CO2 tank, he could just as easily have been pushed and then locked in."

"Or there could be another reason why he was in there," Tira suggested.

"Such as?" Jali prompted, staring at her with an amused smile.

"Such as he could have thought he heard someone in there and went in," Tira said. "Then they could have sealed the tank, and filled it without knowing he was inside."

"You seem to know quite a lot about this," Jali teased, taking a drag of the cigarette.

"My father was a gas prospector," Tira told him, crossing her arms against her bare chest.

"Oh, so that explains everything, then?" Jali mocked.

"I'm just trying to make you see things differently," she said defensively. "You used to see a lot of murder, so you think you still _do_ see it." She bundled the sheet around her bare body.

"I never said anything about murder," Jali reminded her gently, waving the cigarette towards her.

"No, but that's what you meant, isn't it?" Tira chided.

"True," Jali conceded, stubbing out his cigarette and crossing to the refresher.

After a moment Tira followed him, placing her bare arms around his bare shoulders. Jali looked at her strangely. Didn't she notice he was kind of _busy_?

"Do you mind?" he asked her. "I'll be finished in a moment and then you can use it."

"Sorry," she said, draping a towel over her shoulder and leaving the refresher.

When he was done he pulled on his trousers and looked for her. She was standing at one of the windows looking out; he went and stood by her. It wasn't much of a view, all they could see was the next apartment building a few hundred metres away.

"What's wrong?" Jali asked, attempting to take the towel off her shoulder.

"Oh, nothing," she whispered. She looked up at him for a moment, and then back to look out the window. "It's just…nothing."

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," Jali said, his hand on her bare shoulder. "I've been thinking a lot lately, about us…"

"No, don't say it," Tira said rather sharply walking away from him.

"What?" Jali followed her. "Every time I bring this up you always avoid it, we need to talk."

"No, we don't," Tira said, hugging the towel close around herself. "I've been thinking too, and…what you're talking about." She shrugged. "It's just not something I can see myself doing."

"Why not?" Jali asked.

"Well, I like it how it is," Tira replied. "No strings, no attachments…I don't see why we should change it."

"So now I see what you're _really_ like," Jali said, his voice having all the finality of a slamming door. "So I was wrong, I thought your waiting for me actually _meant_ something." He gave a bitter laugh. "Well, it's been fun." He walked away.

"No, Jali, wait!" She ran after him. "Jali, it isn't like that at all!"

Jali froze in the act of putting on his shirt. Then he seemed to come to a decision and continued buttoning. "I thought there was something in you that wasn't there," he said, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth slightly altering his voice. "It's my mistake, not yours." He pulled on his jacket.

"Jali, don't go," Tira pleaded, taking his hand. "We can talk about this."

Jali lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. "This is it, Tira," he told her. "What I want from you, you can't give me. There's no point in arguing." He took out the cigarette. "You can see yourself out."

He went out, the door shut and Tira was left standing there, blinking away tears.

"I wish I had told him," she sobbed, collapsing on the bed.


	8. Chapter 8

The address brought Jali to an upmarket residential area of Coruscant. The buildings were pleasant-looking and were painted with pleasing colours. He continued past on his speeder bike the entrance to Nami Kotour's building until he found what he was looking for—a flower stall.

The blue-haired woman tending the stall looked at him. "You after something?"

Jali shrugged. "Think so," he said.

She crossed her arms and stared at him. "How guilty are you feeling?"

Jali considered. "Fairly," he said finally. "When I left her she was pretty upset."

"Forgot the anniversary, hey?" she teased.

"Something like that," Jali said.

"Here." She proffered a large bouquet of violet roses imported from Naboo. "This oughta do for you, what say?"

Jali handed over the money and took the flowers. Grinning to himself, he went in to the apartment building and inquired at the desk.

"Got a delivery for a Nami Kotour," he said to one of the clerks. "What apartment? They didn't tell me." He kept the flowers firmly over his face.

The clerk checked the system without asking any questions. "Eleventh floor, room thirty-eight," he told Jali.

"Thanks." Jali took the turbolift up.

---------------------------------

The apartment wasn't that hard to find, and he kept his face well-hidden by the flowers and said "delivery" into the intercom when a silvery voice inquired who was at the door.

"Flowers, for _me_?" asked Nami as she opened the door. "Oooh!" she squealed, opening her arms to receive them. "They're lovely!" she trilled.

With a grin Jali handed them over. "Do you mind if I come in?" he asked. "There's something else I have for you that I don't want to hand over in the doorway."

The mauve Twi'lek examined Jali closely, considering for a moment. Jali could clearly see her dilated pupils. There was also a distinctive smell about her clothes, skimpy as they were. _Ryll_, Jali automatically thought. He had seen it destroy more lives than he would care to admit.

"Okay," she chirped, cradling the flowers in her arms. "But not for long, okay?"

Jali nodded and Nami opened the door wider to admit him.

While Nami left to find a vase, Jali took a look around the apartment. The whole place screamed 'love nest'. The red velvet walls, the crimson deep-piled carpet, the mirrors on the bedroom ceiling, the underwear, bottles, glasses and drug paraphernalia left everywhere.

"Very, very, _very_ nice," Nami tittered, putting an expensive caged glass vase on the low table with the flowers inside. Jali tried not to look at her as she bent over the table. "Now, what else was it that you said?"

Jali looked at her carefully. She clearly did not remember, another symptom of excessive ryll use.

"It's just something I wanted to ask you," he said. "I know who you are, and I think you can help me."

The Twi'lek's eyes widened and she slank away from him like a cornered animal. "What do you want?" she demanded, her voice almost a shriek. "_What do you want? Just take it and leave!_"

She slumped against the wall, her legs splayed out at odd angles. Jali started towards her, was she all right? All he needed was to be the witness of an overdose.

Nami opened her eyes. "Well? Why are you waiting? Go ahead!" She started to remove her clothing, it tore away easily. "Here, that helps." She arched her shoulders back, tilting her head up.

Jali stared at her for a long moment, then shook himself and looked away. _The last thing I want to do tonight is look at a naked Twi'lek woman_, he thought. "Put your clothes back on, sit down and be a good girl." He sat down on the couch and tried not to look at her.

"Yes sir," she said, putting her clothes on obediently and sitting on the couch opposite him.

Carefully, Jali looked up, but it was impossible. "This will never do," he said, removing his coat and then draping it over her shoulders, making sure her chest was covered. "Now, tell me about the people who come here."

"Mmmmm." She sucked a finger. "There's Aldie, he comes a few times a week and we go in there!" She pointed to the bedroom, causing the coat to open. Jali made a gesture, she giggled and closed it.

"Aldie?" Jali asked.

"He's a senator," Nami told him, grinning.

"Does he have a last name?" Jali probed.

"Stoll," Nami said.

So it was Senator Stoll, the same one that Tira worked for.

"He bought me this place and lots and lots of nice things," Nami trilled, giggling hysterically.

Jali sighed, this was going to take a while. "Who else comes to see you?"

"Well, there's _you_," Nami said, laughing wildly.

Jali made an impatient gesture. "Forget about me," he told her. "Who else comes? Who gets you the ryll?"

"Nuada," Nami said. "Well, I _think_ that's his name. He's a little funny, he can see what I think."

She giggled again.

_That wouldn't be hard_, Jali thought bitterly. He was beginning to see just what Guren had meant when he said it would be hard to extract information from Nami.

"Does he have another name?" Jali asked.

Nami shrugged and said she didn't know.

"Why is Nuada funny?" Jali asked her.

"He has no eyes," Nami told him, her own eyes with their enlarged pupils widening at this. "He looks like you, but has no eyes."

_He's a Miralukan then_, Jali surmised._ Could this Nuada be the next link?_ Guren had told him that Nami was just a stop from one source of information to another. But he needed more information.

"Do you know where I could find this Nuada?" Jali asked her as she dissolved into yet another fit of giggles.

"He comes and sees me," Nami said, "maybe you can meet him! That would be fun!"

"I don't think so," Jali murmured, but Nami heard him.

"Why not?" The Twi'lek cocked her head to one side; the coat hung suggestively open.

"Just a feeling," Jali said.

Nami giggled again. "Nuada just has feelings like you," she said. "He took me out once."

Jali grabbed onto this detail. "Where?"

Nami shrugged. "Little place, high stools, little girl in the kitchen, this short guy who talked a lot."

"Where was it?" Jali asked.

"It was round and square," Nami said, shrugging. "Lots of little towers around it, up a little high."

Round and square…towers…little girl…short guy. It had to be Didi's Café. Jali could have kissed her. He may only have the first name of who he was looking for, but it was something. It wasn't the first time he did not have much to go on in order to find someone.

He left as soon as he could, and headed to where he had parked his speeder bike. Someone followed him out of the building and got into a red and black airspeeder parked a safe distance from Jali's bike. When Jali had headed off, the speeder followed.

---------------------------------

Jali kept his bike at an almost leisurely pace, turning over the facts in his mind. To him at least, it was an obvious conclusion that whoever wanted the facts about his arrest had also killed Tollan. Yet despite of the number of people who might have a grudge against a Security Officer, Jali could not connect them to Tollan's murder.

In his time as a Security Officer, Jali had known several officers who had fallen in the line of duty. Yet those killings had all been clearly done as examples, a reminder to the Security Force of what they were up against. Whoever had killed Tollan had _meant_ it to look like an accident and had taken appropriate measures to make it so.

So the question remained, who would want Tollan silenced? Jali smiled bitterly. The right question to ask was: who wanted about everything else to make Tollan's death look like an accident?

The answer was obvious. But that answer posed yet another question, why would—

Jali's train of thought ground to a halt as the red and black speeder he had been unconsciously watching in his rear sensors followed him as he turned. With a racing heartbeat, Jali increased his speed. Was he being followed? He made several seemingly random turns, but the speeder kept on his tail, always following him at a certain distance behind so he couldn't get more than a glimpse of it.

"Okay, flyboy," Jali muttered to the image in the sensor, "let's see how you go _now_."

He did a drop shift, his bike almost free-falling through the air into the lane below and causing loud protests from those already there. Jali ignored them, putting his bike through a series of turns that weaved through the glassy buildings. After a while Jali ventured another look, the speeder was still behind him.

"What the frag?" Jali shouted, almost turning around to give his pursuer a visual insult.

Jali gunned his bike, passing the Executive Building and coming up to the Senate. The large dome-shaped building gave him an idea. He steered downwards to where the politicians left their personal starships then headed right towards a large, bumpy Mon Calamarian craft, ducking in front of the nose just before it passed him.

He wended his way through the large spaceport, using the ships as cover and causing some annoyance with the pilots. Jali was just congratulating himself on his ingenuity when he could hear the faint thunder of engines behind him.

"Fragging hells," he swore, "does this guy ever quit?"

It suddenly became less of a game and more of an annoyance. _What will it take to lose this guy?_ Jali wondered _And just who is he?_ Suddenly, the second question became far more important.

For a moment he considered just how he would find out, then increased his speed and forced his bike into a dive. This time he made only nominal effort to lose his pursuer. He guessed that whoever was behind him was slowly gaining confidence, as the distance between him and the speeder was lessening. Jali also deliberately steered to the left, ever so subtly so the speeder was not directly behind him. Then, just as he turned to pass over several low-roofed buildings, Jali acted.

He quickly reversed the throttle of his bike and he zipped backwards, the speeder going right past him but Jali was ready. He quickly changed gears and followed the speeder, getting out his blaster pistol with one hand and blasting a few shots at the departing vehicle. The fourth shot hit something critical and the speeder went down, smoke pouring from the back.

Jali went down after it, watching the vehicle slide over the low roof of a small building with ear-wrenching shrieks. Jali landed his bike as someone got out of the speeder. It was Kian.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's dangerous to follow people late at night?" Jali asked, setting his blaster to "stun" and training it on the Security Officer. "Let me guess, Vantel set you up on this, didn't he?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," Kian replied, glowering at the barrel of the pistol that was aimed at him.

"Vantel likes to get little boys like you to do his dirty work for him, doesn't he?" Jali taunted.

Kian narrowed his eyes. "That's low, even for the likes of you, Dawler."

"I know," Jali shrugged, "but it's true, innit?"

Kian evidently decided to ignore both Jali's taunts and the blaster aimed at him. "I'm here to deliver another warning, Dawler," he said.

"Oh, _another_ one." Jali smiled tightly. "When did I get my first, then?"

Kian ignored this as well. "This is an official message from Captain Vantel: the investigation is closed, stop looking for things that aren't there."

"So you're his messenger boy now, are you?" Jali asked. "Well, tell this to him from me: I'm not quitting until I know for sure who killed Tollan and he should know better to try and stop me."

Kian sighed. "Dawler, I understand you and Antilles were friends…"

"No," Jali interrupted, "that's just where you're wrong, you _don't_ understand. If you did you would not be right here, right now delivering such a pointless warning that I'm sure as space is cold that I'm not going to follow."

"The second part of the message is," said Kian in a dry, emotionless voice, "is that if you do not desist your current activities certain measures will be taken to make sure you do." For the first time, Kian smiled, and the effect it caused on his face wasn't pretty. "You wouldn't want to do inside again, Dawler, so soon? With your record you could get more time, perhaps ten years?"

"That's just what Vantel did to me last time," Jali told him. "Shut me up so no one would listen to me."

Kian shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "Well, I delivered the message, I have no responsibility to making sure you follow it." He turned to examine his damaged speeder.

When he turned around Jali had gone.


	9. Chapter 9

It was too late to go to Didi's to check out Nami's tip, so Jali returned to his gloomy, dusty apartment. Tira had long gone; no surprise there. Jali wondered if he had been too hasty in leaving

Tira the way that he had. There had been no thought or consideration, just the harsh words following her rejection of him. No room for her appeals or even her pleadings, just straight and direct, almost clinical.

_I'll call her in the morning_, Jali thought as he eased his boots off and removed his shirt, _smooth it over, she'll come around_. He lit a cigarette and sat on the unmade bed. _She just doesn't understand about Tollan_, he said to himself.

Kian's threats from Vantel about keeping his silence more or less confirmed Jali's suspicions: that Vantel had something to do with Tollan's death and the "accident" story was a cover-up. Furthermore, this meant that Vantel had something to do with Jali's arrest, and The Silver Ring that Guren had mentioned.

_Does this mean that Vantel's involved with The Silver Ring?_ Jali turned the thought over in his mind several times as he finished the cigarette, and though he didn't like it very much he knew that he couldn't rule anything out. And he knew, that if Vantel _was_ involved with The Silver Ring, a lot of things would make sense. The transfer of credits to his account…Vantel confiscating the equipment in Tollan's apartment including the information Tollan had wanted to give him.

_It all makes sense_, Jali thought as he stubbed out the cigarette, _but why do I have the feeling there's something missing?_

He fell asleep, the question still unresolved.

---------------------------------

Jali dreamt he was watching Tira dance at The Seventh Star the night he had first seen her. The jeers and catcalls of the customers, the slow, steady beat of the music and her feet against the metal counter, the close-fitting red, dancing-girl costume, her soft smile as she turned his way…

But Tira's face was immediately blocked by Balor's. The Devaronian looked rather agitated and shook Jali by the shoulders.

"Jalis, wakes ups nows," Balor shouted. "Wakes ups, there's ahs bombs ins this buildings!"

At the word "bomb" Jali was awake; he opened his eyes to see Balor looking down at him, shaking him by the shoulders.

"What…where…?" Jali asked, sitting up. "Did you say there's a _bomb_?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Balor shouted, pulling Jali by the arm and dragging him out of bed. "Jalis, we's leaves nows!"

Jali picked up his blaster, boots and wallet as Balor pulled him out the door and into the corridor. As they passed several closed doors he tried to stop Balor.

"Hey, shouldn't we let people know that the whole building is about to go up?" Jali asked.

"Nots wholes buildings," Balor lisped, "justs yours places."

"How did you get in, Balor?" Jali demanded. "The door was locked."

Balor laughed. "Yours locks, theys likes jokes fors mes!"

They came to the end of the corridor just as the explosion happened. Jali felt the building shudder and saw several jets of flame shoot from the open door of his apartment. He stood there for a moment, even ignoring the other residents who had been roused by the noise.

He looked at Balor. "How did you know about this?" Jali asked.

"I's heads what's youse doings," Balor said, shaking his head. "Thiss warnings froms Nuadas."

"Nuada?" Jali asked. "I've been looking for him, but how—?"

"I's knows thingses," Balor told him. "Yous don'ts looks fors Nuadas, Nuadas finds yous. No, no, no…" He laughed again. "Nuadas don'ts finds _youse_, he's finds _yours bodys_." Balor laughed louder, enjoying his joke.

"Listen, Balor, I need to find Nuada to get the proof I need for Tollan's death," Jali told him, willing to use any source in order to get this.

"Whose tolds yous that's?" Balor asked.

"Guren," Jali said. "He sent me to get the name from a wasted Twi'lek named Nami Kotour."

"Namis tolds yous?" Balor looked very surprised at this. "Listens, we's needs toos goes nows. Ifs Namis tolds yous, nots goods fors hers its is."

Against his will, Jali found himself being pulled into the turbolift and then pushed out of the building, still wearing his undershirt and carrying his boots.

---------------------------------

Balor had no trouble finding Nami's apartment building and even less trouble opening the thick door so they could enter. The living room was empty, but when they entered the mirror-ceilinged bedroom the mauve Twi'lek's naked, spread-eagled form on the bed told them all they needed to know.

Jali pressed two fingers against Nami's carotid artery. Nothing.

"Jalis." Balor pointed to the several empty vials on the bedside table.

"Ryll," Jali said, wrinkling his nose. "I knew she used, I just didn't think she'd go this far."

"She's didn'ts," Balor said pointedly, leaving the room.

Jali did the right thing and called the desk to report the death, within a half-hour the Security Force was processing the scene and asking Jali questions.

"I tell you, I've got nothing to do with this," Jali pleaded with one of the officers. "I saw her earlier, and I was afraid she might have…done something to herself."

"You really go out of _your_ way to get in _our_ way, don't you Dawler?" asked Vantel as he walked into the room. "You better tell us everything, or you'll go back in for interfering with an official investigation."

"Just like you want," Jali said under his breath. He turned away from Vantel to look at Nami, someone had courteously draped a sheet over her revealing parts, yet something in the way that the way that her neck was positioned made him examine her closer. He took a glove from the forensics team and ran it along Nami's mauve flesh.

"What are you doing there, Dawler?" Vantel asked. "You're a witness, not part of the investigation."

"Whether I am or not is immaterial," Jali snapped. "You missed something, look here." He drew his finger along Nami's neck. "You can't see it because of the colour, but the skin's uneven here and heavy like it's bruised." He lifted up one of her leku and examined it. "And look, here as well." He compared her other head-tail and both showed signs of bruising. "Someone has some very practical ideas."

Vantel came closer, so did one of the medical examiners. Both of them confirmed what Jali saw.

"But this is just Hutts in space," Vantel retorted. "Those marks could have been made yesterday, or last week."

"Incorrect, Captain," disagreed the medical examiner. "In my opinion this woman was strangled, and not in a very nice way." With gloved hands he picked up both of Nami's leku and crossed them over her neck. "They probably crossed them like this when she was unconscious," he paused, his voice faltering at the idea of it, "then pulled them back to close her windpipe."


	10. Chapter 10

A more thorough examination of Nami's body at Headquarters proved these findings accurate. Tests proved that the Twi'lek had been strangled, her leku were bruised and the tips showed signs of friction. Vantel told Jali this as soon as he had given his statement as well as a few well-chosen words of advice.

"I'm letting you off lightly, Dawler, and against my better judgement," Vantel said. "But this is your final warning, quit with your investigation about Antilles or I'll be forced to take measures."

Jali had given no response to this, affirmative or otherwise, and was just as resolved to expose Vantel for being behind Tollan's death. Vantel's obstructionist attitude only further added to his suspicions, even if he still wasn't completely satisfied with them. He walked along the street, still wearing his undershirt that he had worn from his escape from his apartment that morning. If Balor hadn't told him about the bomb, Jali was sure that he would have died in the explosion.

Suddenly, Jali stopped. Why _had_ Balor told him about the explosion? Balor was not what you would call the altruistic sort, not unless you put currency into the equation.

_And he still didn't tell me who told him about the bomb_, Jali reminded himself.

So focused on his thoughts, Jali didn't hear the footsteps behind him, didn't feel the barrel of the blaster pistol approach his back until it was pressed into his flesh.

"Dawler," said a deep voice behind him. "Let's say you and I go for a walk, shall we?"

Jali started to turn and raise his arm. "I don't think—" His arm was quickly caught by his assailant and twisted round to a painful angle.

"Let's not make this more difficult than it has to be, Dawler."

Held as he was, Jali finally got a look at his attacker's face. The features were humanoid, nose, mouth and ears in the proper places. Except for the eyes, they simply were not there.

"Nuada Vekstar."

The Miralukan acknowledged this with a nod. "You have been causing some concern with certain people I know," Nuada said in the same deep, calm voice that he had first addressed Jali in. "I think we need to have a talk: now."

Jali swallowed hard, he had been in situations like this before and he knew how to play. But unlike with the Security Force, there was no back-up to call. But, was it as if he had a choice.

"Fine," Jali assented as amiably as he could. "You only had to ask, you know."

"First, give me your blaster," Nuada said, the barrel of his own weapon still pressed into Jali's back.

Without complaint, Jali handed it over. Nuada pocketed it.

"I see we can work together nicely," Nuada said, guiding Jali to a speeder parked nearby. The windows were almost completely covered with black gaze.

Jali got into the back just ahead of Nuada and the door slammed behind them. The speeder started to move.

_Yous don'ts looks fors Nuadas_, Balor had said,_ Nuadas finds yous_. Jali had not fully considered the Devaronian's word, until now.

How much trouble had Nuada gone to look for him? It was a fair assumption that Nuada, or someone connected to him, had planted the bomb in his apartment. So how much of a jump was it from knowing where he lived to knowing where he was? Not much, since Nuada had been responsible for Nami's death as he had found out that Jali had been there. All it would have taken was a few calls to various connections. But how did this connect with Tollan's death? And with Vantel? But did it even fit at all? Vantel organising Tollan's death was one thing. Vantel with guys like Nuada was something else.

But who else fit the bill? Who else knew enough about the nature of Tollan's death and the information he had found on Jali's arrest? Who else had the means and the motive to carry it through?

Suddenly, he knew.

"I wanted to find you, Dawler, because I think we have a few mutual friends," Nuada said, interrupting Jali's train of thought.

"We do?" Jali asked innocently.

"Yes." Nuada turned his eyeless face towards him. In a strange way, the Miralukan resembled the ancient Sith Lords that Jali remembered seeing in history holos when he was at school. He was broad-shouldered, had black hair pulled back tight from his receding hairline and wore an expensive-looking black short cloak. He wasn't taking any chances, as well as the bulge under his left arm that was his blaster pistol, Nuada also had a bodyguard in the front of the speeder next to the driver. The guard wore dark glasses and had his arm over the seat so he faced the back, so Jali couldn't really tell if he was being watched or not.

Jali took a breath, playing innocent for as long as he could. "You mean Vantel?"

Nuada's face screwed up in anger. "No!" His left hand collided painfully with the back of Jali's head. "You stupid or something, Dawler? What makes you think that I would mess with the likes of him? Security scum, lockbox filth."

"I've learned to let nothing surprise me," Dawler said dryly.

Nuada laughed. "A good attitude, even if you're way off," he retorted. "I'm talking about Senix Breen."

"Oh," Jali replied, almost absently. "Him."

"Yes, _him_," Nuada said. "His arrest caused a lot of problems for many people."

"I can imagine." Jali tried to make his voice sound as even as possible, but this was evidently the _wrong_ thing to say to Nuada.

"No, you can't," Nuada snapped. "Your kind are all the same, have no respect for the ones that make you keep your jobs."

"In case you hadn't heard, Nuada," Jali told him. "I'm not _that kind_ anymore."

"Bah!" the Miralukan spat. "It takes a lot more than seven years away for it to wash out of you." He licked his lips. "There's another of your friends that I know," he turned his face towards Jali's. "We're going to see them, right now."

"Who?" Jali asked, still playing Nuada's game.

"You'll find out," Nuada reassured, turning away from Jali and offering nothing more.


	11. Chapter 11

Jali had no idea where they were going, but it was still a relief when the driver stopped and said, "We're here, boss."

The guard opened the door Nuada, then roughly pulled Jali out of the speeder, jamming a blaster pistol into his solar plexus.

"Relax, Jules," Nuada said, making a gesture. "I can take it from here."

During this brief exchange, Jali took a brief look around him. They were in some sort of back alley behind a street of buildings. There was a door, and several garbage disposals, but by the look of things they could be anywhere on Coruscant. He could head the hum of talking from the other side of the line buildings. Somehow, he could hear a voice quite clearly.

"…ly ladies here for your pleasure at Luba Luft's…"

Luba Luft's was a strip club on Vos Gesal Street, so they had to be taking him to…

Nuada opened the back door of the Seventh Star and pushed Jali roughly through it. "Narks!" he shouted. "Get her in here! I think Jali and the lady need some quality time."

_Lady?_ Though Jali. Then it was all as he had suspected.

"Just one question," Jali said as Nuada shoved him into a seat. "Why here, of all places?"

"Why end it here?" Nuada asked with a sneer. "'Cos this is where it begins." He took out his blaster pistol and cocked it, turning around to where Narks was bringing a woman with blonde hair into the room. She turned around, her knees shaking as she looked at Jali.

Jali looked her up and down. Was there any reason to be surprised? "Tira."

She nodded weakly. "It was me, Jali, I'm sorry," she said, wavering on the spot as if she was going to faint.

"But why?"

"You won't understand," Tira replied.

"Try me," Jali suggested.

He could see it, everything, now. Tira, stealing the information the night they were at Tollan's when Verda was out of the kitchen…Tira, meeting Tollan later at the gas processing plant…Tira, strangling Nami Kotour with her own leku…Jali shook his head, it was all there, he has just refused to believe it.

Until now.

Nuada nodded to Narks. "You can go, Narks," he said. "I've got her covered." He turned to the guard who had followed them in. "You go too, Jules." He nodded to Jali. "Dawler's not going to try anything as long as he wants answers."

When both of them had left, Nuada grabbed Tira by the arm and pulled her close. He put his free hand around her, forcing her mouth towards his. Jali watched, disgusted but wouldn't move as the blaster was still trained on him. Finally, Nuada pushed Tira back. She stared at him fearfully, gasping for breath from his kiss.

"What you don't know, Dawler," Nuada said, his eyes trained on Tira, "is that this little girl here has been working for _me_ all along." He smiled at Tira. "I even got her that cushy little job at the senator's office when she got tired of taking her kit off in this dump." He put a hand on her shoulder, stroking her neck. "She _owes_ me."

Tira continued to stare at him, breathing in short gasps. Her face showing her revulsion as Nuada touched her.

Jali forced himself to look away. "Why didn't you tell me all this earlier, Tira?" he asked her. "If I had known you were in this mess with this thug I'dve…well, I would have found someway to get you out!"

"There wouldn't have been a way, Jali," Tira said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You saw the way he tracked you down so easily, you would have been dead already if it wasn't for me." She looked up at Nuada fearfully. "He wanted you dead after you put Senix Breen away for life, I had to convince him." She shuddered.

Jali had some idea how Tira had 'convinced' Nuada. He put this out of his mind. "So, you killed Tollan when he found out the truth?"

"It was an accident!" Tira exclaimed. "He was chasing me, I climbed into the tank and fell onto the controls after I jumped out!"

For a moment Jali was going to buy this, then he remembered what the Duro had said: _Anyone who put him in there knew what they were doing_. "No, that's not what happened," Jali said, he turned to look back at Tira. "You might have been panicking, but you deliberately closed the tank as you didn't want him to tell me. I just don't understand how you got him to go there…"

"That was me, Dawler," Nuada explained calmly. "I just made a few calls, can't let Tira have all the credit, can we?" He stroked her chin as he smiled down at her, then looked at Jali. "And it was also Nami that told me that you had gone to see her, that was foolish of you, Dawler. I actually liked her even though it was Tira finished her off."

Jali looked at her. "You grabbed her by the…" His face screwed up in disgust. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Tira shrugged. "Neither did I," she said. "It wasn't that hard."

"That's what makes it so fragged up," Jali spat. "So I guess you planted the bomb in my apartment too, hey? That wouldn't have been that hard either." She didn't answer him. "And if it wasn't for our good friend Balor, you would have done me in good and proper." He stared at her with contempt. "I guess there's not much more to say to you."

"But...but, Jali you don't understand!" Tira shouted.

"Oh, I _do_ understand," Jali interrupted. "But I still don't understand is why you're still working for this Gamorrean." He nodded to Nuada.

"Watch your mouth, Dawler," the Miralukan warned.

"You've never lived in the underlevels, Jali," Tira explained to him. "You don't know how desperate I saw to get out, Nuada helped me."

"Nice sort of help, innit?" Jali asked, he turned to Nuada. "Is this the part where you kill me, now? Or do I get to walk away with a good behaviour?"

"You're not going to walk out of here," Nuada answered. "But I'm not going to do it." From an inside pocket of his cloak, he got out Jali's blaster pistol. He gave it to Tira. "Afterwards," he said, touching her again, "you know where to meet me."

He then left him alone, Jali sitting down facing Tira who had a blaster in her hands. Tira raised the pistol so the barrel was pointing at him; he heard her flick off the safety catch and set it to 'kill'. Jali slowly raised his hands and spoke in a low voice.

"Tira," he said, looking her in the eyes, "you don't have to do this."

"You're wrong, Jali," Tira said quietly. "If I don't, Nuada will kill me. I don't have a choice."

"No, you always have a choice." Jali paused for a moment, he knew the more he kept her talking the less likely she would pull the trigger. "You had a choice when you didn't ask me for help, when you told Nuada to have me arrested rather than killed."

"I'm starting to think that was a mistake," Tira said shortly, her arms wavering slightly. "I'm not going to do that again." She raised her hands slightly.

Sweat was building up on the back of Jali's neck. "Wait one moment, was it you that told Balor about the bomb in my apartment so you could get me out?" Tira nodded mutely. "I thought so, and that's the second time you spared me when you didn't have to."

"That was meant to be a warning!" Tira shouted. "To get you to stop poking around!"

"Well, you don't know me that well, do you?" Jali asked her. "I never would have stopped until I found out who was behind Tollan's death, and since you killed Nami as well…" He gave a shrug. "I don't know, I guess you're feeling pretty bad now that you're responsible for two deaths."

"It'll be no different when there's a third," Tira said, tears trickling down her face. "This is the hardest thing I have to do Jali, but I'm still going to do it."

"But how are you going to live with yourself after you've killed me?" Jali asked. "Tollan you didn't like, Nami you didn't know, but this is different Tira."

"No, it's not!" Tira insisted, the gun wavering from side to side as she held it.

"Yes, it is." Jali got to his feet with his hands still outstretched. Slowly, keeping his eyes on her the whole time, he walked towards her until the barrel was level with his chest. "You're not going to kill me, Tira, you would have done it already. Now," he kept his eyes on her and spoke very slowly, "give me the gun."

Trembling, crying, her eyes half-shut, she let him take it off him. Jali put his arm around her and set her down in a chair just as the front door was broken open. In burst several Security Officers with blasters at the ready.

"Freeze!" the one in the lead shouted.

Jali put both his hands up so they could see his weapon. "How in seven Corellian hells did you know to come here, Kian?" he asked angrily. He nodded to Tira. "Your other birds have flown, but this one killed Tollan Antilles."

Kian stared at Jali as if he had suddenly grown a second head. He looked at Tira. "Is that true?"

Tira nodded, her eyes red with tears. Kian nodded to the other officers. "Take her in, two of you check upstairs in case there's anyone else."

Jali watched Tira being stuncuffed and led out of the bar. He caught her by the arm and stopped her, there was still one thing he had to know.

"Tira, that information you got the night we were at Tollan's, where is it?" Tira nodded to the wall of the bar. "Thanks," he said, letting her go.

While Kian directed the officers to look around the place, Jali went to the wall of the bar with the circle of stars on it. Six plas-steel stars in a circle with the seventh in the centre. He removed the centre one, which came away quite easily, and turned it over.

Attacked to the metal mounting for the plas-steel was a single datachip, Jali had no doubt that this was the information that Tollan had wanted to give him all along. Had Tollan known that it was hidden there and that was the meaning of his last message? Tira could have told him where she had hid it the night she killed him, but other than that the Seventh Star itself was the centre of all the events that surrounded his arrest.

"What's that you got there, Dawler?"

Jali turned to face Captain Vantel. "Nothing much," he said nonchalantly. "It just happens to be something proves my innocence."

Vantel raised an eyebrow. "Oh, just that, is it?" He turned to go. "By the way, it was your friend that told us you were here."

Jali looked at him quizzically until he noticed someone else come through the doorway.

"Jalis, friends, Dawlers!" Balor was pumping his arm up and down in that embarrassing way of his.

"Hows ares yous nows that's I's saveds yours lifes agains?"

"Pretty good, considering," Jali replied, smiling sheepishly. "I know what happened with the bomb, Balor, but how did you know I was here?"

Balor laughed. "Yous don'ts knows mes Jalis," he said, putting his hand on Jali's shoulder. "I's knows theses thingses, yous onlys hads toos asks."

---------------------------------

Narks had been picked up trying to leave the planet, trying to pass on as a passenger without a ticket. The fact that he had tried to flee merely added to his guilt, and a close investigation revealed just how much he had been involved with the Silver Ring. He was charged along with Tira and for weeks the Seventh Star lay empty for a little while until, eventually, one of his waitresses, a Falleen named Miarka, somehow managed to acquire the premises. It was still a major source of information and the protocol of the callbox still stood, but now it was clean.

Nuada had vanished, and Jali knew that it was no good trying to find him. He told this much to Captain Vantel several months later after Tira was indicted.

Vantel dismissed his doubts. "We'll find him, Dawler," he assured Jali. "If you just let us do our job."

"In case I have to do it for you," Jali reminded him.

Vantel didn't see the joke. "I've been thinking, Dawler," he said. "You're record's going to be clean again in a few more months, how would you like to come back to us?"

"What, go back to the Security Force?" Jali asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't," Vantel replied. "And after what you did despite what I said to you, well, what do you say?"

Jali considered this. "I've been thinking about it ever since that morning," he explained slowly. "And as much as I wanted it when I got out …somehow I don't think it matters as much any more."

"I don't understand you," Vantel said. "You had a good record when you were with us, and your experience with, well, _them_, only makes it better."

"I think it's that experience that's going to go against me if I do come back," Jali pointed out dryly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to say no."

"You're walking away from a great opportunity here, Dawler," Vantel told him. "You're making a mistake."

"No, I'm not," Jali argued. "I'm just doing what matters."

He left Vantel shortly after that, walking along the street at twilight, a cigarette in one hand. He heard footsteps behind him and smiled.

"Balor," he said, turning around, "should have known it was you. You can't leave me alone, can you?"

"Nots fors verys longs Jalis," Balor said, grinning.

"What say we go have a drink?" Jali asked. "Sorel's is pretty near."

Balor shook his head. "I's knows ahs betters places," he said with a smile. "Nots toos fars, goods atmospheres."

Jali laughed. "Lead me to it, then," he said, hailing an airtaxi. "Vos Gesal Street," he told the driver. "Take us to the Seventh Star."


End file.
